Radisson Beach Resort Larnaca

We have just returned from a 10-night holiday at the Radisson Beach Larnaca, and unfortunately, I have given the hotel 3 stars because, in my opinion, there are quite a few areas that need improvement for it to genuinely meet the standards I would expect from a 5-star hotel.

I am also a Radisson Rewards member, so I had a certain level of expectation when booking and staying at a Radisson property of this category.

I have worked as a Travel Agent for 30 years and have stayed in many 5-star hotels around the world, including several in Cyprus, so I feel I have a reasonable basis for comparison. I appreciate that everyone has different expectations and experiences, but this is simply my honest personal experience.

There were certainly some positives, so I’ll start with those.

We booked a Superior Balcony Room, which is located in the main building on floors 4 to 8. We were allocated a room on the 8th floor and the sea view was absolutely magnificent and very quite. Unfortunately, for us, this was probably the highlight of the room.

The hotel’s communal areas and grounds are generally well maintained and look pleasant. Waves Restaurant, which is located by the sea front, was also a highlight. It is a lovely setting for lunch, a sundowner or dinner, with dinner being served until 9:30pm. The staff there were friendly and extremely helpful throughout our stay.

Breakfast was also very good, with a nice selection of local cuisine alongside the usual breakfast options. The breakfast staff were friendly and welcoming. We would also like to mention the pool attendant, who was extremely friendly and helpful and always willing to assist.

Another plus was there were plenty of sunbeds to go around, so there was no sun lounge wars and no guest reserving the beds.

The sea is directly opposite the hotel ( no beach ) and can be accessed via steps. The sea is extremely shallow, and you can walk a considerable distance into the water, which is lovely if you enjoy calm, shallow water.

Unfortunately, though, there were also a number of negatives that significantly affected our stay.

Our room had to be fumigated twice because both myself and my partner were bitten by fleas. This was obviously very unpleasant and not something we expected to experience in a hotel of this category.

The room itself was also very disappointing for what I would expect from a 5-star property. It felt rather bleak and lacked any real design or attention to detail. The bathroom in particular was not up to the standard I would expect. Storage was extremely limited, and the shower drainage was poor. We had to use our towels to stop the bathroom floor from flooding while showering.

The bed was also very uncomfortable, which was particularly disappointing given that we were staying for 10 nights. The pillows were of very poor quality and certainly not what I would expect from a 5-star hotel. A comfortable, good-quality bed and pillows are, in my opinion, one of the most basic requirements for a hotel stay, particularly when guests are staying for an extended period.

Housekeeping was another area that was well below the standard I would expect from a 5-star hotel. On more than one occasion, the bed was very roughly made, with sheets hanging out and not properly tucked in. On one occasion in particular, the bed had been made so poorly that I actually had to remake it myself. This was extremely disappointing and gave the impression that basic housekeeping standards were not being properly checked or maintained.

The swimming pool was another disappointment. There were allot of broken and damaged tiles throughout the pool, giving it the appearance of a rather tired and poorly maintained patchwork including the childrens pool which in my view is a big health and safety issue and for a hotel marketed as 5-star, I would expect the pool area to be maintained to a much higher standard. Unfortunately, the condition of the tiles took away from what should have been one of the main features of the hotel.

Another small but frustrating issue was the lack of clothes hangers. There were only five hangers provided for two people. As we were staying for 10 nights and attending a wedding, we had shirts, trousers and other clothes that needed to be hung up. We had to ask on numerous occasions for additional hangers, which should really have been provided in sufficient quantity from the start.

Another major disappointment was an incident around the pool. While we stepped away from our sun loungers, our brand-new sun tan lotions were taken. We reported this to the hotel, and some members of staff did try to help, which we appreciated. Unfortunately, in the end, we were simply told that they were sorry but there was nothing they could do.

I completely understand that guests have to take responsibility for their own belongings, and perhaps we should have been more careful. However, it was still extremely disappointing to have personal belongings taken from our sun loungers at a 5-star hotel, and we had hoped the hotel would have been able to offer more assistance or reassurance.

Location is another consideration. The hotel is around a 20-minute taxi journey from Larnaca town, where you will find the main shops, bars and restaurants. We found taxis to be quite expensive, generally costing around €15–€20 each way. We therefore used the 425 bus instead, which stops close to the hotel and runs approximately every 20 minutes when there are no delays. During the day it cost €2.70 and at night €4.70. This was a much more economical option.

It is also worth mentioning that there isn't a great deal happening immediately around the hotel and the road works outside the hotel is still ongoing and will be for a while. If you are looking for an area with plenty of bars, restaurants and shops within walking distance, this may not be the right location for you.

Overall, there are definitely positives to the Radisson Beach Larnaca. The grounds and communal areas are generally pleasant, the sea front location is lovely, the sea is beautiful and shallow, breakfast is good, and several members of staff were genuinely friendly and helpful — particularly the teams at Waves Restaurant, breakfast and around the pool.

However, taking everything into consideration, our overall experience fell short of what we would expect from a 5-star hotel. The issues with the room, the uncomfortable bed and poor-quality pillows, the housekeeping standards, the bathroom, the flea problem, the damaged pool tiles, the lack of basic amenities such as sufficient hangers, and the way our stolen belongings were ultimately handled all contributed to our disappointment.

As a Radisson Rewards member, I had expected a level of service and attention to detail consistent with the standards associated with the brand, and unfortunately, our experience did not meet those expectations.

On reflection, and I am genuinely sorry to say this, we would not return to this hotel and, based on our personal experience, we would not recommend it.

I appreciate that everyone has their own opinions and that other guests may have had a completely different experience. This is simply ours, and I wanted to share an honest and balanced review of our 10-night stay.

A lovely looking hotel but is definitely not 5 star ,we arrived quite late and had a drink in the bar leaving suit cases by reception thinking that they would have gone to our room ,no they remained there. the bathroom had green glass sliding doors so you could hear everything and i mean everything! the shower leaked out everywhere so had to barricade this with towels as its not on a slant. No milk or teabags and on pulling the bottom bed sheet back the mattress cover was stained and there was dark long hairs ,spoke to the reception in the morning no apology said they would inform the cleaning team. On returning back later the room had been cleaned and looked much better . But for two days running our room was not cleaned i went down to reception to ask why, they did not know again they just said we will inform the cleaning team . The breakfast was good and had lots of choices the pool is nice but there are tiles missing everywhere even underfoot some one had put about 20 tiles on the side of the pool and they were still there when we left . I think someone should be checking the rooms before the clients arrive this i guess would help with concerns people are having Also the reception staff are devoid of any customer social skills no apologies for any complaints or concerns , when we checked out they just took the key cards off us never even asked us if we had enjoyed our stay. This could be a great hotel if it could get the cleaning sorted and get the reception staff onto some sort of social skills course. i dont normally write on Trip Advisor but felt that it is was not cheap to stay there and things could be improved.

My very short stay at the Radisson Beach Resort Larnaca will be my first and last.

We arrived at 3AM and were treated like we are disturbing the ‘doing nothing time’ of the person at reception. We were sent to our room by ourselves and without even a suggestion to help us with our suitcases it otherwise provide a clear explanation where our room was located. We walked through an exceptionally dirty corridor to get to our room. A very strong smell of wetness and mildew through our to the room is the first thing we encountered Them heavy spots of mildew in the bathroom and on the tapestry walls. It was all the more horrific to find spots of blood and heavy dirt on the bed sheets and on the towels. We could not sleep at all and waited just to leave the place. On top when we asked to stick around the lobby until 2 PM we encountered an unpleasant tone making sure we understand if we do not check out at 12PM we be charged 33% extra for the room. Altogether a terrible place and one that anyone should stay away from .